To Be Learned Is Good: Essays on Faith and Scholarship in honor of Richard Lyman Bushman

by J. Spencer Fluhman, Kathleen Flake (Editor), Jed Woodworth (Editor)

"I think we all feel some tension between our religious convictions and the secular times in which we live. In one way or another, modernism invades and unsettles our thinking, perhaps our thinking about our fields, perhaps our personal beliefs. What I hope we all realize is that this tension is not to be suppressed or regretted. Unanswerable as some questions are, we need not lament the discomfort they bring. The strain of believing in unbelieving times, is not a handicap or a burden. It is a stimulus and a prod. It is precisely out of such strains that creative work issues forth. And we can take satisfaction in knowing that we are in this together." (Richard Lyman Bushman)

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Lds

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 18, 2018

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each of the essays written honor the scholarship and effect of Richard Bushman’s writing and thinking. Nothing is cookie-cutter, every piece provided a different perspective of his work and how it affected the essayist.

[Greg Diehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

What better way to honor Richard Bushman than with a collection of essays focused on the intersection of faith and scholarship by the who's who in Mormon Studies? I found the topics as relevant and astute as their authors are discerning. Each perspective was expansive, well written and represented "genuine questions" approached with both academic skill and heartfelt authenticity.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of a stretch for my department book club, as it is heavily focused on the humanities, and like other collections, the individual essays are hit and miss. Some were moving, with relevant lessons; others were inaccessible.

[David Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t rush you reading with this book. Many of the chapters were quite delightful to read and for as bright as many of these contributors, they have a wonderful sense of humor.

[Erneilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tribute to Dr. Bushman is a fine collection of essays on the role of historian, particularly that of a historian of a faith when that faith is his or her own. Two quotes attributed to him stand out in my mind: "Even when science has done its work to perfection, it fails to tell how to live." Having spent most of my working career in the sciences I appreciate that little comment immensely. The other one: "The Book of Mormon inspires me, and so I hold on. Reason is too frail to base a life on... I think it is far better to go where goodness lies." I heartily agree.